Film Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025)

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Name: Spider-Man: No Way Home
Released: 2021-12-17
Duration: 148 min
Rating: 7.9
Cast: Tom Holland, Zendaya, Benedict Cumberbatch, Jacob Batalon, Jon Favreau

"Enter the Multiverse."

Released December 17, 2021 2h 28m ★ 7.9TMDB ★ Essential to the MCU

Peter Parker is unmasked and no longer able to separate his normal life from the high-stakes of being a super-hero. When he asks for help from Doctor Strange the stakes become even more dangerous, forcing him to discover what it truly means to be Spider-Man.

How to watch Watch the Tobey & Andrew Spider-Man films first for the full payoff.

Watch note

Peter asks Strange to make the world forget he's Spider-Man — the spell goes wrong and pulls in multiverse villains and both Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men. Aunt May dies. All three Peters cure the villains. Strange wipes everyone's memory of Peter — he starts completely alone.

Why It Matters in the MCU

No Way Home is the most structurally ambitious Spider-Man film made to date, using multiverse mechanics not as a gimmick but as a mechanism to explore what the Spider-Man identity means across generations. The reunion moments between franchise iterations are earned rather than pandering because the film gives each returning character a complete emotional arc rather than a cameo. It commits to the hardest creative choice available to it: Peter Parker walks away with nothing — no mentor, no identity, no one who remembers him — which is exactly the right ending.

Watch These First

37 titles lead into Spider-Man: No Way Home — 139 hours in total. 22 of the 37 are essential.

Captain America: The First Avenger Essential 2h 4m ★ 7.0
Captain Marvel Essential 2h 4m ★ 6.8
Spider-Man Recommended 2h 1m ★ 7.3
Spider-Man 2 Recommended 2h 7m ★ 7.3
Spider-Man 3 Recommended 2h 19m ★ 6.5
The Amazing Spider-Man Recommended 2h 16m ★ 6.7
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 Recommended 2h 21m ★ 6.6
Iron Man Essential 2h 6m ★ 7.7
Iron Man 2 Essential 2h 4m ★ 6.9
The Incredible Hulk Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.3
Iron Man 2 (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
Thor Essential 1h 55m ★ 6.8 +2 before this
Captain America: The First Avenger (Credits) Essential 0h 2m
Thor (Post-Credit Scene) Essential 0h 2m
The Avengers Essential 2h 23m ★ 8.1 +2 before this
Iron Man 3 Essential 2h 10m ★ 6.9
Thor: The Dark World Essential 1h 52m ★ 6.5
Captain America: The Winter Soldier Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.7 +3 before this
Guardians of the Galaxy Essential 2h 1m ★ 7.9
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 Essential 2h 16m ★ 7.6
Daredevil (Season 1) 11h ★ 8.2
Jessica Jones (Season 1) 11h ★ 7.5
Avengers: Age of Ultron Essential 2h 21m ★ 7.3
Daredevil (Season 2) 11h ★ 8.2
Captain America: Civil War Essential 2h 27m ★ 7.5 +1 before this
Luke Cage (Season 1) 11h ★ 6.9
Iron Fist (Season 1) 11h ★ 6.5
The Defenders (Season 1) 8h ★ 7.0
Eyes of Wakanda (Season 1) Essential 2h ★ 6.2
Black Panther Essential 2h 14m ★ 7.4
Spider-Man: Homecoming Essential 2h 13m ★ 7.3
Doctor Strange Essential 1h 55m ★ 7.4
Daredevil (Season 3) 11h ★ 8.2 +1 before this
Thor: Ragnarok Essential 2h 10m ★ 7.6 +2 before this
Venom 1h 52m ★ 6.8
Avengers: Infinity War Essential 2h 29m ★ 8.2 +5 before this
Captain Marvel (Post-Credits Scene) Essential 0h 2m
Avengers: Endgame Essential 3h 2m ★ 8.2 +10 before this
Avengers: Endgame Encore Essential 3h 5m +10 before this
Peter's To-Do List Essential 0h 4m ★ 7.0
Spider-Man: Far From Home Essential 2h 9m ★ 7.4
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings 2h 12m ★ 7.5 +2 before this
Venom: Let There Be Carnage 1h 37m ★ 6.7

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Where It Fits in the MCU

Spider-Man: No Way Home sits at position 118 of 158 in the MCU's story-chronological order, placing it within the Phase 4 — Multiverse Opens (2024–2025) era. It is rated Essential — must-watch for following the main MCU narrative. Watching in story-chronological order provides the most coherent character development experience — individual arcs build naturally toward the franchise's major crossover events, with each film's post-credits scenes carrying forward into what follows.